Someone Else's Misfortune
by Nanaki BH
Summary: N/Touya - Touya encounters a formidable Pokémon in the wild. Just when he thinks this may be his last battle, a certain someone appears before him again.


"Do you see it anywhere around here, Staravia?"

Tilting his head back, Touya looked up at his Staravia in the sky, scouting above the trees. Rather than reply, it gave a barely visible shake of its head and sped forward, out of his sight to search ahead. Unfortunately, he wasn't having much luck with his search on the ground, either. Together with a few of his most trusted Pokémon allies, he ventured into Pinwheel Forest to look for the mossy rock he'd heard about; the one that was capable of evolving his Eevee into a Leafeon. If he were to hope of completing the Pokédex, then he needed to find that rock... Or find someone to trade with.

He'd grown rather attached to his Eevee, though, so that wasn't really an option. He couldn't imagine handing over a trusted partner to someone he didn't know just so he could fill a silly Pokémon encyclopedia for the professor.

Heading into Pinwheel Forest from Castelia City, he knew which path he had to take to reach the mossy rock, but it seemed like it was taking an unusually long time to get there. He followed it deep into the forest, but, at a point, his path became blocked by a shallow river. In front of him, the path continued, so he thought nothing of it at the time, hopping along some stones to reach the other side, but now he was starting to wonder whether he'd taken a wrong turn back there, thrown off-course.

It felt like he'd been in the forest for quite a long time. He couldn't remember when he left Castelia, but when Touya took a look at his C-Gear, it was already well into the evening. The sun was beginning to set, and the shade of the trees seemed to grow deeper with every step he took. Looking up at Staravia, he considered calling it back, but didn't feel confident that he even knew how to return to the city. When he looked behind himself, everything seemed to look different.

He should have been marking his path somehow. It was unwise for him to enter the woods without any plan, without even a compass to guide him. Now, if he didn't find his way back or reach the next city, he was going to be stuck in the woods all night. He'd camped outside many times on his journey, but never in Pinwheel Forest.

Something about its atmosphere was just... intimidating.

While he walked along the quiet path, he could've sworn that he heard voices, but he hadn't seen a single person since he entered the forest. It was bizarre. He'd run into the typical, weak, bug-type Pokémon that one would expect to find there, but the forest was unsettlingly quiet besides.

Pinching his fingers together between his lips, he whistled loudly to draw his Pokémon's attention.

"Staravia, I think we should-"

A sound suddenly met his ears and he stopped, his whole body freezing. Hearing voices was one thing – that could have simply been the wind. The sound of a twig snapping and leaves rustling were also nothing to be afraid of. But what he heard this time was definitely _something_; the loud crunch of branches and foliage being crushed underfoot.

It sounded like it came from nearby, so he cautiously turned his head to look around himself, trying to find the source of the noise. His hand instinctively crept to his hip, his fingers closing around one of the pokéballs on his belt as his eyes frantically scanned his surroundings.

The sound was loud enough to have come from a person, but a person would have likely announced their presence already if they'd noticed him. He wasn't doing anything to hide, standing out in the open, looking harmless. Another trainer wouldn't have felt threatened by someone so unsuspicious-looking. In that case, it meant that it had to be a Pokémon.

Whatever it was, he felt prepared. His heart may have been thudding fearfully, but he'd survived many harrowing battles in the past.

He heard the rustling again; this time, from behind him. Whirling around swiftly, he pulled a ball off his belt and readied it in hand. However, what he saw standing in front of him made him halt.

He thought that he was prepared for anything, but what stood in front of him was something he never expected to see in the wild. There, standing at the height of a full-grown man, its red shell glowing a dangerous red in the umber light of the setting sun, was a Scizor.

The only thought he found himself able to think before it lunged at him was that he needed to move, to get away. Clutching his pokéball tightly in his fist, he ducked and dropped to the ground, his back hitting the dusty path as he rolled out of its way. In his head, Touya quickly went over his options. Staravia was still above him, now hovering at a safe distance. It was a good thing that he'd whistled for it, otherwise it might have heedlessly continued to fly ahead, unaware that he'd been met with trouble. He briefly considered ordering it to attack, but remembered that Scizor was no ordinary bug-type; his Staravia didn't know any attacks that would be able to take down a steel-type.

The ball he held, however...

There was no time to think about it. The Scizor had locked its sights on him again and began to charge, raising one of its sharp arms in the air, ready to strike. As quickly as his legs could allow, Touya got on his feet and tossed his pokéball.

"Pignite, help us! Use Flame Charge!"

It was the only option he had. Pignite was the only Pokémon on his belt that knew attacks that would be effective against the Scizor. Unfortunately, this Pignite was still relatively low-leveled, and he could tell that this was no typical Scizor. They were a Pokémon that couldn't normally be found in the wild, requiring special items for their evolution. Judging by the vengeful gleam in its eyes, this Pokémon had reason to distrust humans.

Likely, it had been abandoned in the forest by its trainer.

Running as fast as his short legs could take him, Pignite drove toward the Scizor and launched himself at it head-first. The Scizor screeched, caught off-guard by the force it received from a Pokémon much smaller than itself, but it quickly regained its balance and whipped one of its razor-sharp arms out toward Pignite, slashing it across the face.

"Pignite!"

As he feared, Pignite's physical attacks put it at a disadvantage. If only he'd been able to teach it more special attacks...

Pignite staggered back, shaking his head to catch his bearings. A gasp escaped from Touya's lips when he saw his face. The setting sun dyed everything a shade of red, but there was no mistaking the glistening crimson that ran down the side of Pignite's jaw and dripped down, staining the ground beneath him. His physical attacks required him to make contact with Scizor, and being anywhere within the range of its clawed arms was too dangerous. With their distinct height difference, a move like Arm Thrust wouldn't even be able to reach it.

There was no time to deliberate, though. He had to choose his moves quickly.

"Flame Charge again! Try to avoid its attacks!"

There was valuable sentiment in such an order, but it was ultimately for naught. Scizor was much faster than Pignite. It saw him coming toward it with another Flame Charge and fearlessly ran straight toward him with its arms raised. Striking once, then again, it landed a devastating Double Hit on Pignite, sending it flying backwards onto the path.

"Come on, Pignite! You can do it! Take it down!" he urged, trying to sound encouraging even though he could feel a grievous sense of dread infiltrating his heart.

Responding to his trainer's support, Pignite struggled back onto his feet. The wound on his head looked really bad, though. Touya knew that they had no choice, but he felt guilty having to order him to attack in such condition. As soon as they took down this Scizor, he promised himself, he would turn around and immediately take him to a Pokémon Center.

Sparing a glance upwards, Touya noticed with a start that he could no longer find Staravia. The sky was growing dark, but he was sure that he would have been able to see it if it were still waiting in the air. Unable to figure out where it'd gone, he told himself to trust in his Pokémon, and hoped that Staravia knew what it was doing. It was unthinkable that it would have abandoned them now while they were in danger, but he couldn't keep his thoughts from straying in such a dark direction.

Pignite's breathing was growing labored and he looked unsteady, wobbling slightly as he stood back to assess his enemy. The Scizor watched him carefully, holding a tense distance between them, undoubtedly contemplating its next attack. The slash that Pignite received to the head must have been a critical hit. Either that, or he'd underestimated the difference in their levels. If this were truly a trained Scizor like he suspected, then there was no telling how experienced it was. With the way that it watched them, silently pondering its moves, it seemed to be familiar with battles; a deadly adversary to encounter in the wild.

If he allowed Pignite to take any more hits from it, there was no telling what might happen. One more critical slash could be spell the end for him.

Struck with a sudden idea, Touya issued an order.

"Defense Curl!"

Putting Pignite on the defensive was the only thing he could do to keep him safe now, even though he knew that they would never win with defense alone. He wanted to call him back to his pokéball, but then there would be no hope for either of them to escape.

The Scizor looked directly at Touya and something seemed to change in its eyes. Rather than going for Pignite, it began to charge in Touya's direction, screeching, raising its claws with the intent to kill.

Frozen, there was nothing he could do but close his eyes. He lifted his arms in front of his face to shield himself and braced for impact, expecting to feel the edge of its pincers slicing into his skin. A split-second later, he heard a cry – an injured squeal he recognized as Pignite's.

Afraid of what he might see, his pulse pounding in his ears, Touya hesitantly opened his eyes and found Pignite locked between Scizor's pincers, straining in its grasp. Without thinking, he ran to him and pounded one of his fists against the Scizor's chest as hard as he could. Surprised that a human would choose to attack it directly, the Scizor flinched, and Pignite was dislodged from its pincers. With a quiet thud, Pignite fell to the ground, knocked out.

Now there was nothing Touya could do but struggle. Furious and terrified for his life, he threw another fist into the Scizor's chest, but was rewarded with a forceful countering swipe to his abdomen. It hit him with the back of its pincer; not sharp enough to leave a mark, but with enough force to steal the breath from his lungs. Wheezing, he staggered back. The Scizor moved quickly and followed up its attack with another, delivering a hit to his head that was strong enough to make him see stars for a few alarming seconds as he fell to the ground.

This was it...

He'd been warned that one's Pokémon journey could be an arduous one, but he'd never imagined that it would end this way. Pokémon were supposed to be friends, companions.

Cheek pressed to the dusty ground, Touya closed his eyes and prepared himself for the expected finishing blow, feeling nothing but guilt in his heart.

Suddenly, there came a sound; a familiar voice.

"Zoroark, help them!"

Opening his eyes with what strength he had, Touya looked up in time to see a wave of darkness sweep over the ground before him, striking the Scizor. A Zoroark bounded forward on all fours, then straightened up onto two, and growled threateningly at the Scizor, taking a defensive position in front of Touya's prone body. The Zoroark looked familiar, and there was only one person whom that voice could have belonged to.

Someone stepped next to him and Touya followed their shoes up to their face, surprised and unsurprised at the same time to see who stood there. And there in the sky, hovering above them, was Touya's own Staravia.

"N," he mumbled, his mind a mess of questions. "What are you..."

N kept his eyes forward, focused on the threat before them.

"Please," he said, holding a hand delicately over his chest, extending the other to the strange Pokémon. "We aren't here to cause you any trouble. We aren't interested in capturing you, either. I'm sure that he just wanted to get through the forest. Please, if you'll let us go, we'll leave you alone."

The Scizor, sadly, didn't seem to believe him. Letting out another rageful cry, it charged, ready to attack N's Zoroark.

N lowered his hands to his sides, balling them into fists. Touya heard him sigh, could just barely make out a disappointed expression on his features in the waning light. "I'm sorry that it had to be this way..."

Touya wished that he could have seen the way that the rest unfolded, but his vision became hazy and dim. The last thing that he heard before his thoughts succumbed to the darkness was the sound of clashing claws.

When his senses returned to him, he was somewhere entirely different. Slowly, he opened his eyes to take in his new surroundings. He was sitting upright, wherever he was, on a cushioned bench, facing a pair of wide double doors. The white tile floor and walls looked familiar.

A Pokémon Center – that's where he was.

"You're awake," someone said.

Touya turned his head, wincing as his eyes met with the lights above him as he looked up to the one who stood next to him. He tried to say something, but the painful pounding in his head kept him from uttering a word. For a few moments, he closed his eyes and tried to get the pain under control. When he opened them again, there was a hand in front of his face, holding out a water bottle. He took the proffered bottle, noticing how cold it was as the chill from its damp sides soaked his fingers.

"Thank you," he said softly, holding the bottle to his forehead.

N sat down beside him, folding his hands in his lap. "I was really surprised to see you in the forest," he said. "I heard a whistle from somewhere, so I started following the path. You're lucky that Staravia saw me, otherwise I might not have found where that whistle came from."

"You knew it was me?" he asked. He was the one who spent so much time looking for N. It would figure that N would end up being the one who found him instead.

N nodded. "You have a very distinct whistle."

The events of the forest came back all at once, hitting him like a wave, making his headache worsen. "Pignite – What happened to Pignite? Is he... alright?"

At his question, N stayed tight-lipped, but he didn't have to stay quiet for long. The double doors in front of them opened, and Nurse Joy emerging from behind them. She looked down at the chart she held in her hands with a twist in her delicate brows, then looked up at Touya who met her gaze with interest. N and his companions must have carried them all the way to the nearest city; Striaton, most likely.

"You're Pignite's trainer, is that right?" Joy asked, adopting a more professional expression.

"That's right. How is he?" He was afraid to know. The move that Scizor used on him last looked like it could've been Guillotine, one of the few attacks known to instantly put a Pokémon out of commission.

She informed him of Pignite's condition. The wounds he sustained had apparently caused him to lose a considerable amount of blood. At the moment, he was under the most intense watch to make sure that his vital signs didn't drop any lower. Trying to remain calm herself, she told him that if his Pokémon didn't manage to improve overnight, then there wouldn't be much hope of him lasting.

All he could do was wait it out and trust in the strength of his Pokémon, she said.

Such words fell upon deaf ears. To Touya, who felt like a finger had been thrust at him accusingly, it sounded like he was being told to take responsibility. He was Pignite's trainer. Bad things didn't happen to a trainer's Pokémon for no reason.

As he let this abysmal news sink in, he felt a hand touch his shoulder, and turned to look blearily at the one sitting next to him.

"I trust Nurse Joy," N said; valuable words from someone who found it hard to trust other humans. "We should rest. Pignite tried his best for you, and I'm sure that he's still trying very hard, so the least we can do is take care of ourselves in the meantime. He wouldn't want you to worry."

Touya lifted the back of his sleeve to his eyes and turned his head away. Hearing N say something like that made the tears finally come to his eyes, and there was little he could do to hold them back. Sniffling, he pulled the bill of his cap down to hide the redness in his eyes, and nodded his head. This was no time to think about himself, but he felt a little happier, having heard N say "we" like that. If N meant what he said, then he wasn't going to leave this time. Maybe he'd leave the next day or the day after that, but for now, Touya felt reassured knowing that he wouldn't have to weather the night alone.

One of Joy's Audinos came by and handed them a key to one of the Pokémon Center's guest rooms which they could use overnight. N accepted it for him, and kept a hand on his shoulder as he guided him there. Touya felt thankful for that solid, reassuring hand. Without it, he wasn't sure he would have been able to stand at all.

After N showed him inside the room, he took Touya's bag from him and placed it on a chair near the bed.

Touya might've mused aloud about the presence of only _one_ bed, but he didn't have the energy for it. He stood silently, looking around the room, suddenly finding it much too small. He took a tentative glance at N, and, when their eyes connected, he looked away. N hadn't looked at him with any sort of intent, only concern, but his presence in such close proximity made Touya feel all sorts of things that didn't feel right to think under the current circumstances.

Announcing that he was going to take a shower, Touya disappeared into the adjoined bathroom without allowing N the space of a breath to respond. On the other side, he leaned heavily against the door and closed his eyes, trying to regroup his thoughts, but no amount of willpower seemed to work.

This kind of guilt was really something; knowing that, by morning, he might never see Pignite again.

It was true that Pignite wouldn't want to see him cry for his sake, but if he were alone, then that sort of thing didn't matter. If he were alone, he could let all of his formless, guilty thoughts take him down without bothering anyone else. It was selfish of him to cry now, but he had no control over the tears that spilled silently from the corners of his eyes.

After all of this time, too... Why did N have to be there now? They'd just reunited and he was already making him worry about him.

There was nothing to be accomplished by crying, but he couldn't think of anything else he could do. Carefully straightening himself up, he went to the shower and turned it on, hoping that the sound of it would be enough to drown out any pitiful noises that happened to make it past his lips. He was surprised that N hadn't already asked him if he was alright. He spent so long just standing there, unmoving, that it must have seemed suspicious when the shower hadn't been started.

It felt like he'd been standing there a long time, but he couldn't tell for how long. He had his C-Gear on, but hadn't bothered to look at the time. Taking another moment in front of the mirror, he looked at his tear-reddened eyes, and felt like he might burst into a fresh wave of tears just seeing how pathetic he looked.

This wasn't the face of a proud, strong trainer. His Pokémon had survived harrowing battles in the past. But this time, for some reason, he felt especially weak, like he'd really lost the worst of battles.

Unable to bear looking at himself any longer, he tore his eyes away from his reflection and began removing his clothes. He took them off one layer at a time. By the time he removed his last sock, he felt even more vulnerable. Without checking the water first, he stepped in and flinched when he felt the stinging burn of the hot water hit his back. Staring down at his pale toes, his thin skin, he felt another crippling wave of guilt.

Why did people make Pokémon fight...?

What was the purpose of making them stronger if they didn't need to fight to survive...?

Was he making them suffer for nothing...?

Weakly, he pounded a fist against the shower wall. The water that drenched his hair rolled over his face in streams and poured from his chin into the swirling drain at his feet. He stared at it as though he were watching all of the answers mix together and disappear.

"N," he mumbled, feeling like that name were all that made sense. "What am I doing? Why am I doing this?"

Did his Pokémon ever think about these things? Did they ever wonder why they had to fight with other trainers' Pokémon? Maybe this kind of question was a privilege of being human. Pokémon who are willing to obey their trainers just don't think about it, but it's completely up to the trainers' whims whether or not they give it any thought. This kind of thing was surely what N wanted to teach people.

There was a knock on the door, followed by a concerned voice.

"Touya? Are you alright? I thought I heard you say something."

N's voice sounded muffled behind the door, but Touya had heard every word. He quickly covered his mouth with both hands, and whipped his head toward the door. The shower door was foggy, but he could see that the bathroom door was still closed. Come to think of it, he couldn't remember locking it, which meant that N could come in if he tried.

Touya slowly brought his hands down. His thoughts were still a jumble, and he couldn't think of a thing to say that wouldn't come out sounding like a sob-soaked mess while his throat was still clogged from tears.

"Touya?"

He fruitlessly swiped at the tears on his cheeks which were, at this point, completely indistinguishable from the water from the shower. He sniffled and cursed himself for letting out such a weak sound, embarrassed by the way it echoed so loudly in the small room. The sound of it alone was enough to make more tears spring from his eyes.

It hurt now. It hurt to cry, like his body was too exhausted to supply him with tears, but it tried and it hurt.

"Touya, did something happen?" A few dreadfully quiet seconds passed in between those and his next words, punctuated by the sounds of Touya's echoed sobs. "I'm going to come in."

He said it like he was warning him first, giving him some time to reply if he were going to. Touya really wanted to say something back. His instincts told him to shout out, to tell him not to come in, to keep him away so that he wouldn't have to see him like this, but he knew that he couldn't do it in any sort of way that wouldn't make N worry even more.

Hearing the door click open, Touya immediately crouched down and hugged his knees, flushing with embarrassment from head to toe. He didn't dare to look up at him now, couldn't even comprehend how things had gotten to this point.

It was all because he'd made N worry. None of this would have happened if he'd been a better trainer.

Touya kept his head down, his forehead pressed to his knees, and waited, hoping that N would say or do something quickly so that he could go find a nice hole to bury himself in. Everything was so wrong.

He didn't hear anything, though – not until he suddenly heard the shower door being opened. Filled with panic, he looked up and watched as N reached into the shower to turn the knobs off. In his other arm he held a large towel, which he then extended to him. He was looking at him in a way that most people would recognize as inappropriate. It would have made Touya feel embarrassed normally, but it felt comforting in a way because it was so something that N would do.

Without the warmth of the water on his skin, the air around him rapidly made him feel colder. He quickly grabbed the towel from N, and wrapped it around his shoulders, and was glad to find that it was big enough to make him decent.

N's sudden presence had been enough to shock away his tears for the moment, but as time dragged on, he felt them approaching his eyes again as he strained to find something to say.

"I..." He pulled the towel around himself more tightly, his fingers flexing in the material. "I should just... stop being a trainer. It isn't right, is it? Making Pokémon battle is just for our own satisfaction. I finally get what you were trying to tell me when we first met."

Something hardened in N's eyes. He grabbed Touya by the shoulders and looked at him firmly.

"You'll stop being a trainer?" he asked, sounding affronted. "What would you do with your Pokémon?"

"It would be hard, but I could release them. Then they could go back to the wild, back to the way they were supposed to live."

N's hands fell from his shoulders, his face awash with disappointment. "That doesn't sound like the Touya I know. That doesn't sound like you at all."

"What do you expect me to say? After something like that, I have no choice but to reconsider the things I've been doing up until now. I've been putting my Pokémon in danger – other people's Pokémon, too. Pignite... Pignite might die because of me, you know!"

By the time he finished, his voice had risen so much that he was shouting, and there were tears falling freely down his cheeks. It hurt, but he'd finally gotten out his thoughts.

N looked at him sternly. A while ago, Touya would've expected him to be happy to hear him reconsider his path as a trainer, but he didn't look pleased at all.

"Then what?" N asked. "You'll abandon them like that Scizor who was abandoned by his trainer?"

"No, that's not..."

He hadn't even thought about that.

The reason he was so distraught over what happened to Pignite in the first place was because he cared about his Pokémon so much. He didn't really want to imagine separating from them. The thought was too painful. He was just willing to do whatever it took to keep his Pokémon safe.

He'd gotten so lost in his own thoughts again that it was a surprise when he felt N's arms being wrapped around him.

"Y-you'll get wet," he sputtered.

N shook his head and placed his chin on top of his wet hair. "I'm used to walking in the rain. I'm not afraid of getting wet."

Touya's arms ached to return his embrace, but he couldn't do that without opening his towel, so the best he could do was press his face to N's shoulder and hope that he wasn't going to get him too wet. He couldn't understand what made N go from looking so angry and disappointed to suddenly wrapping his arms around him, but he wasn't going to question something that made him feel better, if only just enough to make his tears stop.

"You love being with your Pokémon. There are Pokémon who need the companionship of humans, just as much as we desire theirs. I still think it's wrong to view them as things to be collected, but you're the one who helped me see the value in the relationship between people and Pokémon. Until things change and people become more considerate of the feelings of their Pokémon, ones like that Scizor will continue to exist. When you encounter Pokémon like that, you need to have strong Pokémon by your side; ones you forged strong bonds with."

Touya thought about what he told him, finding it easier to think now that he'd calmed down. "But then, if that's the case, it's still my fault for not raising Pignite to be strong enough."

"No, that's not what I mean," N said, pulling back slightly to look at Touya. "What I'm trying to say is that strength alone wouldn't have been enough to calm that Scizor."

Right. That was what he was getting at. It was a point that was very like N.

If N were the one who encountered that Scizor, he would have tried to do something to restore its trust in humans. He understood the kind of pain that an abandoned Pokémon felt.

"I feel kind of bad now," Touya mumbled, looking down at the floor between them. "I wonder what happened to the Scizor after that. I've been thinking so much about Pignite and myself that I didn't even consider the pain that Scizor must still be in right now, being away from its trainer."

When he looked up, he saw a calm, gentle smile on N's face. The warmth of it went straight to his heart.

"Zoroark was the one who helped me carry you and Pignite to the Pokémon Center. He went back to the forest to wait for me, so I told him to keep an eye on that Scizor."

"Do you intend to talk to it?" Touya asked.

N nodded, smiling happily. "Once Pignite is better, we can go back together and show him what the bonds between people and Pokémon really mean."

He didn't understand where N got his sense of hope from. He'd lived a terrible life full of awful people who treated him horribly. If what he said were true, that Touya was the one who made him believe, then Touya had to believe as well.

"I..."

N tilted his head inquiringly.

"I need to get dressed."

"Oh," N muttered awkwardly, looking at the arms he still had wrapped around his shoulders. "That's too bad. I really like hugging you like this."

Feeling his face heating up, Touya held his towel together with one hand and used the other to gently remove himself from N's hold. He agreed with N internally, but he wasn't about to admit to anything out loud yet, especially while he still felt so weak and shaken. Maybe later, if N stuck around this time, he'd take the time to tell him how he felt.

The thought of Pignite came to mind again, swaying his thoughts in another direction.

Why not now? N was always disappearing. If he didn't say something now, there may not be a second chance.

Keeping his eyes on the floor, Touya took a deep breath.

"I'm really glad you're here. I might not have made it back if it weren't for you."

That wasn't quite what he wanted to say, but N seemed to understand its underlying sentiment.

After he stepped away from Touya, he adjusted the bill of his cap and headed toward the door. As he reached for the door knob, he stole another quick glance at him.

"I'm glad I'm here with you too, Touya."


End file.
